1502, [Lyons]: BALTHAZAR DE GABIANO AND BARTHELEMY TROTH


The appearance of Aldus' octavo editions beginning in 1501 led to a flood of imitations which was impossible to stem since Aldus' copyrights were practically unenforceable. The Lyons printers Barthèlemy Troth and his associate, an Italian immigrant named Balthazar de Gabiano, were the greatest offenders. They reproduced complete Aldine texts in a coarse imitation of their italic type, on a poor grade of paper, and with numerous errors due to hurried work. It has been estimated that some 64 counterfeit editions of Aldine texts were published in Lyons between 1501-1527, the majority of these done by Troth and Gabiano. The poor paper quality and inferior italic are evident in this copy. The lack of Aldus' line of colophon and admonition against unauthorized reproduction at the end of the Paradiso is otherwise the only substantial textual difference between the two editions.